2005 Frankfurt Motor Show Coverage

Willkommen to the world's largest auto show

In one of the most crowded, and smallest, booths at the show, Lamborghini proudly displayed the inevitable addition to its bullish stable, the Gallardo Spyder. Considered an all-new model by the specialty car company, the Spyder has several key structural differences from the coupe to shore up the torsional rigidity and stand up to rollovers, including A-pillar and side sill reinforcement. The Spyder is further guarded by an automatic rollover safety system, with protective pop-ups that are integrated with the airbag system. The top mechanism operates via two buttons that can tuck the roof away in 20 seconds. The top folds up, essentially, on top of the engine and is covered by a carbon-fiber hood. The process automatically raises/lowers the rear glass, as the cloth top goes through its motions. The V-10 powertrain has been enhanced to produce 520 horsepower, and the six-speed gearbox has had its ratios adjusted, narrowing the effective gear-ratio spacing.

Among these offerings,I am very attracted by the Peugeot Coupe 407 still now.Albeit she looks rather cumbersome and lacks finesse,compared with the Pininfarina-designed 406 Coupe,she seems massive and flashy road cruiser.I am very impressed by her on-the-rail stability,in common with whole Peugeot 407 series.That's owing mainly to abundant suspension compliance and stiff body structure. In fact,she can cruise more safely than some Mercedes and BMW on Autobahn under gusty,rainy,and snowy conditions. That's great in my opinion. As for performance,she can reach manufacturer data of 235km/h(146mph) and some well run-in examples mark even 250km/h(155mph) on several occasions. Namely her performance is up to mark,but starting response and passing power are rather mundane,compared with state-of-art Audis and BMWs. Along with it,her fuel consumption of about 13km/l(turbodiesel) and 8-9km/l(3.0 petrol) is barely average. So the combination of Peugeot-chassis/body and Accord engine is second to none in my remark.